Tennis | Roland Garros

Sharapova vows to 'rise up again'

Maria Sharapova vowed on Wednesday to "rise up again" after she was told she would not be given a wildcard for the French Open following her 15-month ban for doping.

The Russian former world No 1 had hoped to return to Grand Slam tennis at Roland Garros this month but French tennis officials on Tuesday said she would not be granted a wildcard for the event she won in 2012 and 2014.

"If this is what it takes to rise up again, then I am in it all the way, everyday," she wrote on Twitter, in her first apparent remarks on her snub.

"No words, games, or actions will ever stop me from reaching my own dreams. And I have many."

The five-time Grand Slam champion, 30, was banned for two years for using meldonium, with the penalty later reduced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled she was not an intentional doper.

After the ban expired on April 26 she returned to competition at the Stuttgart Open, reaching the semifinals, and progressed to the last 32 of the Madrid Open, failing to earn herself a qualifying spot for Paris.